ABSTRACT: From its very beginnings, defence and security related issues were a major concern of EU policy. However, it was the demise of the USSR in the early 1990’s and the end of the Cold War that – between 1998 and 2004 – gave a major push to the evolution of the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). These changes, combined with the expansion of the EU as a result of the rapid accession to membership of many new countries, spawned the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) and propelled it forward in concept and operation as “European Foreign Policy” under which the EU has conducted more than 20 civilian and military missions. However, closer economic and security analyses from suggests the EU enlargement in 2004 and 2007 weakened its CFSP and CSDP and that future enlargement is only likely to dilute resources further while at the same time introducing new threats with which the EU will have to contend.
Keywords: EU, CFSP, CSDP, Geopolitics, Westphalian international relations, European Security Strategy